Escaping
by wood painted flesh
Summary: From my PJO Drabbles and Oneshots. I thought it should be its own little oneshot outside of that one.


_Okay so I wasn't planning on updating for a while, but this idea _literally_ just popped into my head and now I'm all giddy and adfakjdfa;lsf._

_En-_freaking_-joy:_

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**Escaping**

Percy grunts as the invisible monster charges him. He hates these things. They aren't so much _invisible_ as _really-hard-to-see_. He has only ever killed one since arriving in Tartarus and that was by luck. He uses the same technique as the last time: he holds out his sword, point first and swings blindly (he makes sure Annabeth is a good distance away before doing this). He hits something solid and pushes the sword in deeper, making it bleed more, more, _more_. With the little light provided by his sword, he can see black blood oozing out of the monster. He twists the sword in for extra reassurance, and well . . . _pleasure._

A moment later, Annabeth's cries and screams echo all around him. He calls out for her.

"Over here!" He can see her slump down against the sticky and slick walls of the abyss. She's holding her side, and he can see her blood soak the fabric of her shirt, slipping through her fingers. He rushes over immediately. "I'm okay," she says, smiling. "It just scraped me a bit. It's okay, I'm okay."

He tells her to pull her fingers away. She does. He can see that it is definitely _not_ okay. But he doesn't tell her that. He smiles at her and agrees, "It _is_ okay," he tells her. He takes the edge of his already torn T-shirt and rips a big enough piece for her wound.

She winces and he makes reassuring noises and gestures at her and she appreciates it. She knows and he knows she may not have long but neither of them say a word. Once she's all patched up, he tells her to lie down, "I'll take the first shift," he says and she doesn't argue because she's drained.

He tells her he loves her before she's completely under the influence of sleep and she mumbles something incoherent, "Back at you," is what he hears. And so he takes the first shift.

He ends up taking the entire shift, "You needed rest," he insists when she protests. He's just glad to see she made the night. He kisses her forehead as a morning greeting and through the faint light of their weapons, he sees her smile at him.

The pit echoes with shrieks of the horrors trapped inside. The taunting laughs of haunted spirits begging for eternal death. These sounds will always haunt him. But he grips Annabeth's hand and trudges onward. He needs to get her back to safety. That is his priority.

Percy doesn't know how they've managed their journey so far. They have little food, little to drink, and he's sure they have seldom sanity left. He can feel the walls closing in on him like when you kick down a sand castle, but when he looks, the walls are right where they have been. And then Annabeth speaks to him and then he knows for sure that he's losing his sanity because for the second she speaks, he wishes he could hear noises and see people that do not exist than to hear and see people that do exist. He sometimes sits and thinks about his life and all of its scares and he notices that he doesn't really care what happens from here on out, if he dies.

Annabeth calls out, "Watch out!" but she's a second too late; the flying beasts have him by the shoulders and they're going up, up, _up._ Percy wishes he could scream with delight, because really, he's having the time of his life. He feels free. The weight of the world (maybe not literally this time) has dropped off his shoulders. Then he drops. Another one catches him. He drops again. They're playing a game with him now. And this time he _does_ whoop and yell in delight and he can hear Annabeth yelling at him to try and kill them because she scared and blind by the dark and she wants to get moving but Percy doesn't care.

Eventually though, even the bird beasts are tired of the game and drop him altogether. He lands hard on his back, with breathless laughs. Annabeth is right next to him a second later. She's yelling at him, "What was _that_ about?" But he just shakes his head and picks himself up off the ground. He grabs her hand and they're moving again. She still doesn't forgive him.

The screams of the cavern are echoed by thousands. Thousands of feet lie between him and the earth. The stale air fills his lungs. A cold draft blows through the cracks in the walls, like Tartarus itself is breathing.

He prays to his father every night: _Please take me away, bring me home, help me escape._ He doesn't mention Annabeth; he never does. If a sacrifice is needed, Annabeth would happily oblige. Percy wants to go home to his mother and blue cookies and cake and love.

His breath comes in puffs and he can't even hear Annabeth anymore, but his grip in her hand is firm. He can taste blood on his tongue from chewing his fingernails too much. Percy's life has just begun, but he took the fall with Annabeth because of a promise. A promise that Percy wishes he didn't make. He has to remind himself that he loves Annabeth, he does. But now he feels like he's just flying toward an early grave. He knows that's what being a demigod is about, but now that it's staring him in the face, he's _terrified._

He knows they're close to the Doors now. He can feel the air rushing toward them, like it's pushing them back into Tartarus. He trudges on, with Annabeth's hand still in his. Soon they're on their hands and knees though, fighting against the strong wind. Up ahead, he can see sunlight peeking through the Doors, which look so small from where he is. He squints and swears, "Is that the sun? Can't be, it's too bright."

Annabeth agrees and he laughs. They've made it. He throws himself forward, like a fish out of water. Annabeth follows, but he forgets about her. They're so close.

The sun is brighter now, and Percy has to cover his eyes with one hand. He can see his friends waiting on the other side: Nico, Hazel, Frank; Piper, Leo, Jason. He shouts in delight and grabs Annabeth's arm as he picks himself and her up. He tells her they have to run now. She doesn't object.

He can hear the others, Nico above them all, shouting, "Come one! You're almost there! _Run!"_

Percy's slipping on the gravel and Annabeth falls behind him. He sighs internally and whips around to help her up. She mutters her thanks and they run, run, _run._

"Hurry! We gotta move, fast! You can do it, Perce!"

And finally, they're there. They tumble out of the pit, and he's laughing and crying and shouting, "We did it! Beth, we did it!" And she's laughing and crying, too.

He whirls toward her and picks her up in a great big hug. She squeals as he trips and falls backward and they're both crying and saying each other's names like prayers.

Everyone is giving them weird looks. Nico interrupts them. "Um, Percy," he says. "Annabeth's not here."

Percy just laughs and Annabeth rolls off him. He points to her with a thumb. "She's right here, Nico. What are you talking about?"

Nico looks uncomfortable. He places a hand on Percy's shoulder. "No one's there, buddy. You came through alone."

Percy looks next to him. Annabeth's there, but she's staring down at his clothes and hands. They're bloody, but not with black demon blood. She looks scared and looks up at him. "Percy?" Her voice is like a small child's.

He looks back down at his clothes. He takes out Riptide. Blood, but not black. He looks up again. Annabeth is gone.

There is one thought echoing through his head, followed by a maniacal laugh.

_There's no such thing as an invisible monster._

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_Wow, I feel dirty. Call me Satan, please._

_. . . Review?_


End file.
